Developed countries must take lead in raising their climate change ambitions: PM

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Mon­day stressed that the developed countries must take lead in rais­ing their climate ambitions, both for emissions reduction and increased financial flows to the developing countries.

Emphasizing that commitments made under the Paris Agreement must be fully implemented, he ex­pressed concern over unrealized cli­mate finance pledges by the devel­oped countries.

The Prime Minister expressed these views while addressing an in­formal meeting on Climate Change through video link, a press release issued here by the PM Media Office said.

The meeting was convened jointly by the Prime Minister of UK and the United Nations Secretary General on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

Twenty five Heads of State and Government were invited for the leaders’ informal gathering.

The Prime Minister also suggested that initiatives such as debt-for-na­ture swap would create fiscal space for the developing countries for en­hanced climate actions.

Imran Khan highlighted Pakistan’s extreme vulnerability to Climate Change and shared that addressing its impact was a major priority of his government.

In this regard, he informed the leaders about the key national initia­tives, including the success of flag­ship 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project and clean energy target of 60 per­cent by 2030.

The Prime Minister also high­lighted that Pakistan had replaced two planned 2600 MW coal pow­er plants with hydropower proj­ects as part of its efforts towards climate sensitive economic growth and development.

In its quest to be a part of solution, Pakistan remains fully committed to play its leadership role in address­ing the global challenge of Climate Change through cooperative and constructive engagement.

The objective of the meeting was to deliver a shared political under­standing and vision on what needs to be delivered in the lead-up to and at the forthcoming Climate Change Conference (COP-26) in Glasgow, to be held in November 2021.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/21-Sep-2021/developed-countries-must-take-lead-in-raising-their-climate-change-ambitions-pm